Sorry if this question has already been addressed, but I'm not good at all with computer-speak, so all I can think to do is write out my problem in my own terms in hopes a more comprehensible (to me) answer becomes available.

Anyhow, I updated to Lubuntu 14 with a fresh install, and while it generally works okay, I'm unsure whether I want to keep it.

My qualm in question is that the internet connection works funny.

For the most part, it lets my laptop connect to various wi-fi points, but there seems to be a "time limit" before it begins acting up. After twenty or so minutes, the internet connection will slow down dramatically, and oftentimes I'll even get booted off and totally unable to get back on, and if I do get back on, it's at very slow speed.

At first, I didn't want to deal with the frustration, so I thought to try out Lubuntu 13 Raring Ringtail, but, as you could guess, the download -- given the file size -- rockets along for a while before it slooows down to an eventual halt, never finishing. I thought to download Raring Ringtail from a library computer, but the connection speed is way too slow; it would take almost the entire allotted session.

Now, what could I do to address this?

Now that I think of it, I recall I had this same exact problem when I began experimenting with Puppy Linux, and it was the internet frustration there that resulted in me flocking to Lubuntu in the first place.

Benjamin, your explanation is perfectly fine, no problem. It sounds like power management. Please open a terminal Ctl+Alt+t and run this command: iwconfig Tell us what it says about power or power management.
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chili555Apr 29 '14 at 20:04

Sorry if that's jumbled. My paragraphs breaks only appear within the typing box, and when I post the comment it gets squashed into that block.
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BenjaminApr 30 '14 at 19:15

I see a lot of dropped packets and the signal strength is only 30 out of 70. Are you able to get any closer to the wireless access point? Power management is off as we'd hope.
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chili555Apr 30 '14 at 20:03

Excuse my delayed response. These days I'm only able to use wifi at places at libraries and coffee shops, so I pretty much can't determine my orientation in regards to the wifi focal point depending on where I sit. Though, it never seemed to be an issue on my last variation of Lubuntu, so I don't see why signal strength and whatnot would suddenly be affected. My Kindle Fire's wifi acts just fine at the same hot spots.
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BenjaminMay 4 '14 at 20:40